Iris Publishing	Baja Paddling Epic by Sarah Richards
The Beginning Day One Day Two Day Three Day Four Day Five Day Six The End Petroglyph Relaxing Taking out	Soy la Reina de los Suenos. Picture from a postcard that was awarded to me as the Reina de los Suenos. It is a photograph of petroglyphs found in Sierra de San Francisco on the Baja Peninsula. Copyright to the photograph belongs to Jose A. Sanchez P. But, wait, let me back up a little. When I left you last I was listening to people talking. There was just a gentle sound of waves at this camp site, unlike the previous one that had had pounding waves hammering the shore all night long. The sea had calmed by morning to a shining glossiness. The couple who had shared the camp site paddled off to a distant point (Punta Pulpito) ten miles to the south. We slowly moved off and dipped our paddles into the silky waters while we watched the rocks, sea stars and occasional fish glide by underneath our boats. The water was very smooth on the last morning. The unknown paddler is breaking the rules of safe kayaking for a moment of playful relaxation. In a little bit we saw whale spouts. After a few moments we oculd hear the poof of the whale's exhale. They were quite large, their backs arching over the water for a long time. There seemed to be a pod of them and they'd puff at the surface for a while and then disappear for five or ten minutes. The longer we watched them the more distressed Rober got. We weren't making good timne and had a good distance to go. Later he relaxed enough to show Al and me some trick paddle moves. It turned out he had good reason for his worries. As we approached St. Nicholas where our trip was to end, the wind picked up again from the southeast. So we ended the trip as we had begun it, paddling hard in tow lines into a strong wind. One of the taxi vans is loading gear while several of the exhausted paddlers are standing around. By the time we all had the gear loaded, there was nothing left on the beach that hadn't already been there. Note the clouds: they came at the beginning and escorted us at the end of the trip. The two taxis came to get us. Ours had a cooler full of beer, what a treat! We drove out from St. Nicholas which consisted of a few houses, a church, and a small school yard. The road was dirt and wound through arroyos, cactus and other prickly plants. It seemed to go on for miles. Suddenly, we rounded one corner and there were three pick up trucks parked across the road. A couple of men in brown uniforms came up to our van and asked our driver a couple of questions. Roger said they were Federales looking for drugs being smuggled in. They asked us to get out, then they looked vaguely into the van and told us to go ahead, they had finished with us. I think we were too middle aged and smelly to look like risk taking drug smugglers. After showers back at Los Trojes we walked through town to a tourist restaurant. The staff was watching the Mike Tyson fight and the place was very noisy with all the fight noises. We had to wait until later, in the town square, to gather and talk about the trip, vote for best dinner, best site, and best beach. Then Roger and Jan gave us our awards - mine was Queen of Dreams and Al's was Ojo de la Aguila (eagle eye) for all his good finds. We have a large pile of shells and stones, but the real reason for the award, I think, is that Al had given Roger a shiney leatherman tool he'd found on one beach.   Your story teller and photographer